This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Giorno has the right stuff for Harper

Some say Guy Giorno has mellowed with age and the responsibility of raising a young family.

But news of his upcoming appointment as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff was greeted with chagrin at Queen's Park.

Senior officials close to Premier Dalton McGuinty said they were "not optimistic" the strained relations between Queen's Park and Ottawa would improve with Giorno, once chief of staff to premier Mike Harris, succeeding Ian Brodie.

"He certainly knows the issues the Ontario government faces better than Ian does by virtue of the jobs he had for Harris," said one McGuinty insider.

"But there are few more right-wing people in Ontario than Guy Giorno. He's pretty hard right so we don't see an ideological softening."

Even a Tory source in Ontario was skeptical about the appointment.

In fact, the source warned Harper might have just handed the federal Liberals a gift in Ontario by putting in a man with such close ties to the Harris provincial government blamed – rightly or wrongly – for policies that led to the 2000 Walkerton water tragedy, among other things.

The Tory insider, a former Queen's Park colleague, scoffed at suggestions Giorno is being brought into the tightly controlled Prime Minister's Office to improve a tattered relationship with the national press corps.

YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN...

"He's very bright and very analytical, but I doubt he is going to change things or improve relations with the media. I see the office being more ideologically driven with him there," said the former colleague.

While no one doubts Giorno's intellect, some Conservatives question Harper's decision to replace Brodie with the highly religious and aloof Giorno because he carries baggage from the Harris years.

"It's an odd one," said one prominent Ontario Conservative.

Still, the Tory noted that the cerebral Giorno, 43, is far more similar to Harper than he is to the populist Harris.

"He's damned good at what he does. He's meticulous, hard working and extremely organized," said another Tory friend.

Tom Long, one of the architects of Harris's 1995 electoral success, agreed, saying Harper is "lucky to get him."

But if Giorno, who did not return messages from the Star, has a shortcoming, associates say, it may be that he can be overly deferential and therefore reluctant to speak frankly.

This, at least, was the case with Harris, who always considered Giorno more of an underling than a peer because he had not been part of the inner circle when he won power.

Tellingly, the Prime Minister did not even call Harris – either as a courtesy or for his counsel – before offering Giorno the job.

YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN...

"That's bad form on Harper's part," said one former Harris aide.

Sources say Giorno alerted his former boss and mentor only late Wednesday after Harris had already heard the news via the Star.

"The two are not that close, frankly," said another person, who knows and likes both men.

Get more of the Star in your inbox

Never miss the latest news from the Star. Sign up for our newsletters to get today's top stories, your favourite columnists and lots more in your inbox

Another Giorno friend predicted he would shake things up in Ottawa because he has privately questioned the needlessly confrontational media relations tactics of Harper's communications boss, Sandra Buckler.

Giorno, a practising lawyer, is a partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. He has said he would one day like to run for office.

While he remains one of the most outspoken public defenders of Harris's seven years as premier, the two men are not personally close and do not socialize.

In his days at Queen's Park, Giorno was known as a hard-working taskmaster, who was involved in the finest details of government policy, the brain power behind Harris's populist throne. That rubbed some Tory backbenchers the wrong way. Behind his back, they referred to him as Rasputin, the mad monk in the court of Russia's last czar, or Mr. Bean.

But John Snobelen, a former Harris minister, said he could think of no better person for the job given Giorno's knowledge of Ontario.

"I dealt with him very closely as a cabinet minister. I thought he was very smart. He is very hard working, well read, well briefed. He doesn't suffer fools, but he is more than happy to have a discussion," he said.

The former education minister said Harper is bringing Giorno into the fold because "he's politically smart, he's in tune with the Prime Minister, and he knows Ontario like the back of his hand,"

Snobelen said a Harper government weakness is that it doesn't understand Ontario, preferring to focus on the west or Quebec.

"If Harper is going to break through in Ontario it is going to be with embracing the Harris record, not running away from it," he said, adding there are regions where the Conservatives don't stand a chance, "but you can't afford to write off a whole province."

"The problem has been that people who are used to politics in western Canada don't understand how hard it is to sell the Conservative brand in eastern Canada ... and Guy certainly knows that and knows how to do it."

Tory MPPs who worked with Giorno may be split on whether they liked his style, but they agree he has good political instincts.

Bill Murdoch (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound) once dubbed Giorno the head of Harris's "pimply-faced Nancy boys." Still, the MPP now agrees Giorno will help guide Harper out of the political darkness in Ontario.

Bob Runciman (Leeds-Grenville) praised Giorno as an "intelligent" person whose politics will fit well with Harper's. "He knows his stuff so I think he will be a real asset."

More News

Top Stories

More from The Star & Partners

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com